Hymnal Collection Index

The Schalk American Lutheran Hymnal Collection

Table of Contents by Groups

For more information on many of these collections, see God’s Song in a New Land: Lutheran Hymnals in America – Carl F. Schalk [Concordia Publishing House, 1995]

Pennsylvania Ministerium

The Pennsylvania Ministerium was founded in Philadelphia in 1748 when six pastors and lay representatives of ten congregations, with the encouragement of Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, formally organized the "Ministerium of North America." (In 1792 it changed its name to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania.) At its organizational meeting it also adopted a liturgy; its first hymn book, the Erbauliche Lieder-Sammlung, was published in 1786.

The “New” Pennsylvania Ministerium Hymnbook

Deutsches Gesangbuch für die Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in den Vereinigten Staaten. Herausgegeben mit kirchlicher Genehmigung. Philadelphia: Druck und Verlag von L. A. Wollenweber, 277 N. 3. Strasze. 1849.

Early Collections of English Hymnals for Lutherans in America

A Collection of Evangelical Hymns. Made from Different Authors and Collections For the English Lutheran Church in New York By George Strebeck. New York: Printed by John Tiebout (Homer’s Head) No 358 Pearl Street, 1797.

New York Ministerium

After several earlier abortive attempts, the New York Ministerium was formed in 1786; among its leaders was Frederick Muhlenberg, son of Henry Muhlenberg, the so-called “patriarch” of American Lutheranism. Its most influential leader was Frederick Henry Suitman who served as president of the Ministerium from 1807-1825. A rationalist, he had studied under Semler in Halle. The New York Ministerium issued A Collection of hymns and a Liturgy in 1814 which reflected his rationalistic leanings. In 1820 the New York Ministerium joined the newly formed General Synod.

Lutheran-Reformed

Das Gemeinschaftliche Gesangbuch, zum gottesdienstlichen Gebrauch der Lutherischen und Reformirten Gemeinden in Nord-America. Auf Verlangen der meisten Prediger beyder Benennungen gesammelt, und von den Committeen zweyer Ministerien geprüft und genehmiget. Erste Auflage. Baltimore, Gedruckt und herausgegeben von Schäffer und Maund. 1817.

Tennessee Synod

Church Hymn Book. New Market, Shenandoah County, Va. Printed in Solomon Henkel’s Printing Office, 1816.] Copy missing title page and first 51 hymns, also some pages at end. This is an incomplete version.

General Synod

The General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States of America (1820–1916) was organized in Hagerstown, Maryland, by representatives of Synods of Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia. The New York Synod, however, would not approve the constitution and was not received into the General Synod until 1837. Its first English hymn book was Hymns, Selected and Original published in 1820. In 1918 the General Synod merged with the General Council and the United Synod of the South to form the United Lutheran Church in America.

United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South

The United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South (1863-1886) originally organized as the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Confederate States of America in 1863 as the General Synod split over the issue of slavery, changed its name to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod in North America in 1866 following the Civil War, and finally to the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod South in 1876.

Ohio Synod

The Ohio Synod (Das Deutsche Ev. Ministerium in Ohio und den nachbarten Staaten) was formed in 1818, a daughter of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, and merged in 1930 with the Iowa and Buffalo synods to form the American Lutheran Church.

Buffalo Synod

The Buffalo Synod was formally organized in 1845 by Prussian immigrants under the leadership of Rev. J. A. A. Grabau. In 1842 it published its first and only hymn book 1845 It became part of the American Lutheran Church in 1930, formed byf a merger between the Buffalo, Iowa, and Ohio Synods.

Iowa Synod

The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa and Other States was organized in 1854. The Iowa Synod helped organize the National Lutheran Council in 1918 and the American Lutheran Church in 1930.

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod was organized in 1847 by German immigrants under the leadership of C. F. W. Walther as the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. It published its first hymn book that same year.

General English Lutheran Conference of Missouri

The General English Lutheran Conference of Missouri (1889/89-91) was organized as a group of congregations using the English language at that time. In 1891 it changed its name to The English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri and Other States (1891-1911) until 1911 when it joined the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as the English District (1911-present). It published the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn Book (1889) which went through two editions before this church body joined the Missouri Synod.

The Norwegians

30.1 M. B. Landstads Kirkesalmebog. Kristiania, Olaf Husabys Vorlag. [n.d.].

784 hymns, many with four-part settings, Collects, Epistles and Gospels, other liturgical materials, biographies.

Evangelical Lutheran Synod

In 1917 when the majority of Norwegian Lutheran synods joined together in the Norwegian Lutheran Synod of America, a small group of dissenters formed the “little Norwegian synod”).

The United Lutheran Church in America

The United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA) was established in 1918 with the merger of three independent German synods: the General Synod (1820), the General Council (1867), and the United Synod of the South (1863). The Zion Slovak Synod joined in 1920, the Icelandic Synod (1885) joined in 1940. In 1962 the ULCA became part of the new Lutheran Church in America. Immediately prior to its formation it published the Common Service Book (1917).

The Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod

The Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in America (1860) had its roots among the Swedish immigrants of the 19^th century. In 1894 it changed its name to Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod and in 1948 to the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 1962 it merged with other Lutheran bodies into the Lutheran Church in America. Its Hymnal and Order of Service was published in 1899.

The Danish Evangelical Lutheran Synods of America

47.a1 Sangeren med Tilloeg En Samling oeldre og myere kristelige Sange med Melodier. 5^th printing. Blair, Nebraska: Danish Lutheran Publishing House. 1916.

461 hymns with full music. Responses.

The American Lutheran Church

The American Lutheran Church was formed in 1930 as a merger of the Ohio, Buffalo, and Iowa synods. In 1960 it became part of the merger that formed The American Lutheran Church and later, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It produced one hymn book, The American Lutheran Hymnal, the year of its organization.

Service Book and Hymnal

49.1 Service Book and Hymnal. Authorized by the Lutheran Churches cooperating in The Commission on the Liturgy and Hymnal. Music Edition. Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Augustana Book Concern, Rock Island, Illinois, Lutheran Publishing House, Blair, Nebraska, Finnish Lutheran Book Concern, Hancock, Michigan, United Lutheran Publication House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wartburg Press, Columbus, Ohio, 1958. First Printing.

Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship

The Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship was formed in 1966 as a result of an invitation from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to all other interested Lutheran church bodies to prepare common worship materials for their use. Their efforts produced a number of provisional pamphlets and ultimately Lutheran Book of Worship in 1978. It was accepted for use by the participants with the exception of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod which opted to produce its own revision of Lutheran Book of Worship which appeared in 1982 as Lutheran Worship.

Other Lutheran-Related Supplements

51.1 Hymnal Supplement 1991-GIA

Preface, Notes on the Liturgy, Communion service (Now the Feast and Celebration), service music, 119 hymns (721-839). Robert J. Batastini and John Ferguson, editors. 1991.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was formed in 1988 by a merger of three Lutheran bodies: the Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. It is the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. Its first hymn book, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, was published in 2006.

Wisconsin Synod

The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod was founded in 1850 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the third largest Lutheran church body in the United States. In 1872 in joined with the Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota, and Norwegian synods in forming the Synodical Conference which it joined in producing The Lutheran Hymnal in 1941. It withdrew from the Synodical Conference in 1963. In 1993 it produced its own first English hymn book, Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal.

Apostolic Lutheran Church of America

62.1 Hymns and Songs of Zion. Fourth Edition. Authorized and Published by the Apostolic Lutheran Church of America 1993. MISSING

Preface, 670 hymns, Order of Service for Sunday School, Indexes.